MERGE PEOPLE AND PLANET

Any introduction to sustainability will present two of the main considerations as being people and planet. But due to the evolution of corporate sustainability, the two issues are often managed in quite separate silos, resulting in an unbalanced approach.

Environmental sustainability hogs the limelight, receiving far more time and resources. As outdoor enthusiasts ourselves, one reason for this may be due to our intrinsic connection to the environment. Social sustainability, in contrast, is a lot less accessible.

However, new policies are quickly turning what used to be “nice to have” sustainability into compliance. For example, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) will include social and environmental obligations down to the extraction of raw materials. Measures being discussed include required remediations for affected parties and expansion of civil liability for non-compliance. These are significant changes and may require a shake up in the way that social sustainability is viewed and integrated into organisations and the prioritisation of related budgets.

Going forward, the two sides to sustainability need to be brought together whereby each environmental topic must also be viewed through a social lens, and vice versa. This could be approached in many ways, but a good starting point could be an adapted version of the Doughnut economics model. Here, relevant social boundaries are visualised at the centre of the planetary boundaries, with the centre representing a responsible operating space.

By using global datasets and consistent scoring frameworks for both sets of issues, organisations could mitigate or remedy human rights or environmental risks in the same way.

Dr. Katy Stevens Head of CSR & Sustainability, EOG

Rei Tops Forbes List

American outdoor retailer REI received the top spot on Forbes’ list of Best Brands for Social Impact 2023 for its work with climate and diversity action. The list includes 300 companies that have been rated for their social and environmental efforts in a consumer survey.

NEW HUMAN RIGHTS TOOLKIT

The non-profit Social and Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) has released a Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) Toolkit, which aids in implementing mandatory HRDD and respecting human rights in supply chains with the help of SLCP assessments.